JPH0421176Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed explanation of the invention] [Field of industrial application] This invention is equipped with a conveyor-type product transport shelf that combines a horizontally movable conveyor shelf mechanism and an elevator-type bucket for the in-flight product storage. This invention relates to a vending machine in which products stored in a vending machine are transported to a product takeout port.

[Conventional technology]

2. Description of the Related Art A conveyor-type product transport shelf is known as a product transport shelf device for a vending machine that handles easily damaged products such as bottled products in a soft handling manner.
Next, the structure of a conventional conveyor-type product transport shelf of this type will be explained with reference to FIGS. 4 to 7.
In each figure, 1 is the cabinet of the vending machine,
Reference numerals 2 and 3 denote an outer door and an inner door at the front of the cabinet, and 4 a product takeout port opened in the front door. Inside the cabinet, a conveyor-type product transport shelf having the following configuration is installed. In other words, the conveyor-type product transport shelves are arranged between horizontally movable conveyor shelf mechanisms 5 that are divided into two rows on the left and right and installed in multiple stages above and below, and between the rows of conveyor shelf mechanisms on the left and right. It is combined with a bucket 6 which is connected to the outlet 4 and is raised and lowered in an elevator manner. As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the conveyor shelf mechanism 5 of each stage described above includes a conveyor main body 51 having an endless conveyor belt installed between left and right sprockets, and a bend motor 5 that drives the conveyor in the direction of arrow P.
It becomes an assembly with 2. In addition, 53 is a product discharge detection lever provided on the discharge end side of the conveyor body;
4 is a shelf frame that supports the shelf mechanism. on the other hand,
The bucket bag 6 is a box with a U-shaped cross section with an open front as shown in Figure 5, and is shaped like an arrow Q.
It is supported so as to be tiltable forward via a pin 63 to a lifter 62 connected to a chain drive mechanism 61 installed along the lifting path of the bucket cart 6 shown in FIG. Note that 64 is a drive motor of the chain mechanism, and 65 is a tilting posture control member of the bucket cart installed at the lowest end of the lifting path opposite to the bottom plate of the bucket cart 6. Further, on the side of the chain mechanism along the lifting path of the bucket cart 6, a position detection switch 8 (sixth ) is provided, and a shutter 9 communicating with the product outlet 4 is provided at the bottom of the warehouse.

In this configuration, the products 10 are placed and stored side by side on the upper surface of the conveyor belt of the conveyor shelf mechanism 5 of each stage. Also, in the sales standby state, Bucket 6
As shown by solid lines in Figs. 4 and 5, the container is in a forward-leaning waiting position at the lowest position, and in this state, the product can be accessed from the top of the bucket 6 through the product outlet 4 which opens at the front of the cabinet. The bucket elevating passage leading to each conveyor shelf mechanism 5 is shielded, thereby achieving a theft prevention function for the products 10 stored in the shelves. When a sales command is given from this state, the chain drive mechanism 61 is driven to raise the bucket 6 to the specified position of the conveyor shelf mechanism 5 (sixth
figure). In this case, the bucket 6 is controlled to stop at a predetermined position by the output signal of the position detection switch 8. Next, the drive motor 52 of the designated conveyor shelf mechanism
is started, the conveyor belt is driven in the direction of arrow P, and one product 10 is carried out from its terminal end toward the bucket 6 already waiting at that position. When it is detected that the product 10 has been transferred into the bucket, the chain drive mechanism 61 drives the bucket 6 to lower it, and at the lowest position, it rides on the tilting attitude control member 65 and tilts forward from the horizontal position. Product 10 stored in bucket 6 with tilted posture
is delivered to the product outlet 4 via the chute 9. At this point, the sales operation ends and the machine returns to the sales standby state again.

[The problem that the idea aims to solve]

By the way, in the above-mentioned conventional product transport shelf, in order to prevent the products stored on the shelf from being illegally stolen through the product take-out port when the products are on standby for sale, the bucket 6 is placed at the lowest position when the product is on standby for sale. 4 and the shelves in the warehouse are blocked, and when a sales command is given, the conveyor shelf mechanism 5 rises from this standby position to the designated position of the conveyor shelf mechanism 5 to receive the product 10. ing. However, considering the product sales time when using the lever sales operation method, the bucket 6 rises from the lowest standby position to receive the product, and then descends again. In order to carry out the products, the bucket 6 must move back and forth throughout the entire lifting and lowering process, which increases the sales operation time and the customer's waiting time.
On the other hand, when carrying out products stored in the bottom conveyor shelf mechanism, the bucket rises slightly and assumes a horizontal position, and after receiving the product, lowers slightly and assumes a tilted position to carry out the products. Therefore, you will be able to sell your products in the shortest possible time. In other words, in the conventional configuration in which the bucket cart waits at the lowest level, the selling time of the product varies depending on the height position of the conveyor shelf mechanism, and the distance the bucket cart goes up and down varies considerably, which irritates customers. Since the product requires a considerably long sales time, customers feel even more discomfort.

Regarding this point, if the bucket cart 6 is placed on standby at the highest position in the shelf in the sales standby state, the sales time for all products will be equal for each stage of the conveyor shelf mechanism, and the sales time will be the same according to the conventional method described above. It is possible to reduce the time required to sell products on the top shelf by about half. However, on the other hand, if the bucket cart 6 is placed in the highest standby position in the sales standby state with the conventional configuration, the bucket cart lift passageway is located between the product outlet 4 that opens at the front of the cabinet and the conveyor shelf mechanism inside the warehouse. Therefore, there is a risk that the products stored in the shelf may be illegally stolen by inserting a hand through the product outlet.

Therefore, this invention allows all products to be sold in the same amount of time while maintaining the product theft prevention function, and also significantly shortens the sales time for products stored on the top conveyor shelf mechanism. The purpose of the present invention is to provide a vending machine equipped with a conveyor-type product transport shelf.

[Means to solve the problem]

In order to achieve the above objective, this invention consists of a horizontally movable conveyor shelf mechanism arranged vertically in multiple stages inside the warehouse, and a link between each conveyor shelf mechanism and the product outlet to raise and lower the product in an elevator style. Equipped with a conveyor-type product transport shelf combined with a bucket to be operated, the stored products loaded on the conveyor shelf mechanism are transported from the conveyor shelf mechanism to the bucket in accordance with sales instructions, and the bucket is further lowered and transported to the front of the cabinet. In a vending machine that transports products to a product takeout port that opens at
An opening/closing door is installed at the product takeout port, which is locked in a closed position in a sales standby state and can be opened by releasing the lock upon sales operation.

[Effect]

According to the above means, the standby position of the bucket during sales standby is determined at the upper part of the shelf, and the product takeout port opened at the front of the cabinet is locked in a closed position during sales standby, and the above-mentioned Since we have installed an opening/closing door that can be opened by releasing the lock, when transporting products from the upper, middle, and lower conveyor shelf mechanisms to the product outlet using buckets, the travel distance of the buckets can be adjusted by adjusting the distance traveled by each conveyor shelf. The mechanisms can be made equal, and therefore each product can be sold in approximately the same amount of time. Moreover, compared to the conventional configuration in which buckets wait at the lowest level, when selling products stored on the conveyor shelf mechanism at the top, the travel distance of buckets can be cut in half, and therefore the sales time can be cut in half. . Furthermore, in the sales standby state, the opening/closing door of the product takeout port is locked in the closed position to prevent theft of the products stored in the shelf.

〔Example〕

1 to 3 show the structure of an embodiment of this invention, and the same members corresponding to those in FIGS. 4 to 7 are given the same reference numerals. In other words, with this invention, the sales standby position of the bucket 6 of the conveyor-type product transport shelf installed in the warehouse is set at the top of the shelf shown in Figure 1, and from this standby position, the goods specified by the sales command are It descends to the position of the conveyor shelf mechanism 5 and stops once, and at this position, the goods to be carried out from the conveyor shelf mechanism 5 are received in a bucket, and then it further descends along the chain mechanism to the lowest position, where it tilts to a forward tilting position. The operation is controlled so that the product is delivered to the product takeout port 4.

On the other hand, an opening/closing door designated by reference numeral 11 is disposed at the product outlet 4 opened in the front door of the cabinet. This opening/closing door 11 is a flap type door with a hinge at the upper edge. By the way, as described below, this opening/closing door 11 is locked in a closed position so that it cannot be opened freely by manual operation from the outside when it is on standby for sales, and is locked only when the product is taken out in a normal sales operation. The structure is such that the door can be opened freely when released. For this purpose, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the inner surface of the opening/closing door 11 is provided with an L.
A letter-shaped arm 12 is provided protrudingly, and on the inside of the front door 2 opposite to this arm 12 is a solenoid 14 equipped with a lock bar 13 that engages with the arm 12, and a solenoid 14 that controls the open state of the opening/closing door 11. A door switch 15 for detection is installed, and on the other hand, an unloaded product detection switch 16 is installed at the bottom of the product takeout port 4, which operates by detecting the unloading of the product.
The operation control circuit is configured such that return of the solenoid 14 and the bucket to the standby position is controlled by the operation signals of the switches 15 and 16.

Next, the operation of the opening/closing door 11 installed at the product outlet 4 along with the product sales operation will be explained. First, in the sales standby state, the bucket 6 is in the standby position at the top of the shelf as described above, and the lock bar 13 of the solenoid 14 engages with the door side arm 12 to bring the opening/closing door 11 into the closed state shown in the figure. It's locked.
Therefore, in this state, the door cannot be opened from outside the machine, and it is impossible to illegally insert a hand through the product outlet and steal the products stored in the shelf. On the other hand, when a sales command is given by properly inserting a coin, the above-mentioned sales operation is carried out according to the command, and the goods are carried out from the goods bucket 6 to the goods outlet 4. When the product is carried out to the product outlet, the product detection switch 16 is actuated by the product's own weight, and the solenoid 14 is energized in response to the operation signal to suction the lock bar 13, and the arm 12 and the lock bar 1 are energized.
Release the engagement with 3. As a result, the door 11 is unlocked and can be opened freely. When the customer opens the door 11 to take out the product, the door switch 15 operates to detect the open state of the door 11. Next, when the customer takes out the product and closes the opening/closing door 11 again, the door switch 15 returns to its original position, and the solenoid 14 returns to its original position based on the signal, causing the lock bar 13 to engage the arm 12 and returning the opening/closing door 11 to the closed position. to be locked. Moreover, the product detection switch 16 also returns to its normal state when the product is removed. When the product is taken out of the machine in this way and the opening/closing door 11 is closed, the drive motor 63 of the chain drive mechanism is started by the return operation signal from the switches 15 and 16, and the bucket 6 is moved to the highest standby position in the shelf. When the bucket reaches the standby position, one sales operation ends and the bucket returns to the sales standby state again.

In the process of the above-mentioned sales operation, after the products are taken out of the machine through the product outlet 4, the opening/closing door 1 must be opened.
Since the door switch 15 does not return unless the door switch 1 is closed, the bucket 6 does not rise to the standby position and remains at the lowest unloading position. Therefore, even if you try to insert your hand into the machine from the product takeout port 4 with the opening/closing door 11 open, the top plate of the bucket 6 will be in the way and you will not be able to insert your hand into the machine. Theft prevention function is maintained to prevent unauthorized removal of products lined up in the store.

It should be noted that the locking mechanism of the opening/closing door 11 is not limited to the structure shown in the illustrated example, and it goes without saying that it can be implemented with various mechanisms.

[Effect of idea]

As described above, according to this invention, the standby position of the bucket is set at the upper part of the shelf when it is on standby for sales, and the product takeout port is locked in the closed position when it is on standby for sale, and the said lock is locked by the sales operation. By installing an opening/closing door that can be opened by releasing the lock, all products are sold at the same time without variation, compared to the conventional method of placing buckets at the bottom of the shelf. Moreover, the time required to sell products from the top-of-the-line conveyor shelf mechanism can be reduced to approximately half of the conventional time, so customers are not made to feel uncomfortable at all, and at the same time, it is possible to prevent theft of products stored on the shelves due to unauthorized acts. Effects such as being able to prevent this can be obtained.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a vertical sectional side view of the overall configuration of the embodiment of this invention showing the sales standby state, Fig. 2 is a detailed structural diagram of the product outlet portion in Fig. 1, Fig. 3 is a front view of Fig. 2, Figures 4 and 5 are a front view and a longitudinal side view of the conventional configuration with the front door open, respectively, Figure 6 is an explanatory diagram of the product removal operation of the conveyor-type product transport shelf in Figure 4, and Figure 7 is a conveyor-type product transport shelf. It is a partial perspective view of a shelf mechanism. In the figure, 1...cabinet, 2, 3...front door, 4...product outlet, 5...conveyor shelf mechanism, 6...bucket, 6
1...Elevator chain drive mechanism, 10
...Product, 11...Opening/closing door, 12...Opening/closing door arm, 13...Lock bar for locking the opening/closing door, 14
... Solenoid for operating the lock bar, 15 ... Door switch, 16 ... Export product detection switch.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] A conveyor-type product that combines a horizontally movable conveyor shelf mechanism arranged vertically and in multiple stages inside the warehouse, and a bucket that is operated in an elevator-like manner by connecting each conveyor shelf mechanism and the product take-out port. Equipped with a conveyor shelf, the stored products loaded on the conveyor shelf mechanism are transported from the conveyor shelf mechanism to a bucket in accordance with a sales command, and the bucket is further lowered to be transported to a product takeout port opened at the front of the cabinet. In this vending machine, the waiting position of the bucket is set at the upper part of the shelf when it is on standby, and the product outlet is locked in a closed position when it is on standby, and the lock is released by the vending operation. A vending machine equipped with a conveyor-type product transport shelf, which is characterized by having an opening/closing door that can be opened.